The Inquirer put together a list of their favourite audio products so far this year, perhaps the list will not match yours but perhaps there is a product named which you have not heard of yet. From portable speakers to earbuds that wrap around your wrist when you are not using them they cover a variety of products. Check out the list and see if any of these products are worthy of spending your hard earned money on.

"THOUSANDS OF NEW audio products are released every year. Sometimes the big names are the best, but at other times there are hidden gems waiting to be discovered. Here's our guide to the headphones, speakers and other audio gems that will float our boat during 2016."

If you are shopping for 2.1 desktop speakers that offer better sound than the cheap plastic ones for sale everywhere you might want to check out LANOC's latest review. They took a look at the AlienVibes W401 speaker set, with a pair of satellite speakers each with a pair of 3" speakers and a 1" tweeter as well along with a serious looking sub-woofer that has a pair of 4" speakers and volume, bass and treble dials front and centre on the box. They claim full wood construction and from the quality of sound LANOC described AlienVibes constructed the housings properly. Want more good news? They should retail for less than $90 which makes them less expensive than many audio headsets which simply cannot deliver the quality of bass a good sub can.

"Being a headphone guy myself, when Wes told me I was being shipped some speakers, my first instinct was either a portable speaker set for laptops or mobile listening, or maybe a small set of speakers for a desktop setup. To my surprise AlienVibes sent out one of their W401 model speakers. This is part of a new larger line of speakers that AlienVibes recently released. The W401 is a full size desk speaker setup with subwoofer. After clearing off some room around my desk it’s time we take a look and see what these guys are capable of."

The Paddytek Paddy Vibe BT Edition Resonance speaker is not a pair of desktop speakers, instead it is a single small but heavy speaker which uses the surface it is placed on as a resonance speaker. The key to making the speaker sound better is to put it on a surface which can propagate the sounds waves, in R&B Mods testing it was a hardwood table which gave them the best fidelity. It is powered by USB and can accept either a 3.5mm jack or Bluetooth input for audio reception which gives you some flexibility, especially if you have an adapter to plug it into mains power instead of your electronic device. It may not be available in North America yet put it is worth keeping your eye out for similar devices.

"With more and more smartphones being used as music players we see more portable speakers on the market. Paddytek, a swedish company, has created a portable speaker that can be ran with both a 3,5mm connector or Bluetooth. Their claim is that it uses resonance to supposedly create a high quality sound,. So lets take a look at what we can expect from this 50$ portable speaker!"

If you are on the road doing a presentation for clients or even just stuck playing DJ from a laptop with no real sound system it can help to have a nice looking set of speakers. Pulling out a pair of old cream coloured boxes you've been dragging around for the past 5+ years just doesn't make the best of impressions. Krator and their N4-20U05 Neso 04 stereo speakers on the other hand have a shape that is likely to bring positive comments from those who see them. As an added bonus, apart from weak bass performance, XSReviews found these speakers to be quite good for the low cost. Shame that you need to power them but at least it is over USB and not mains.

"Krator are a Taiwanese company who are “on a mission to transform the landscape of consumer audio and computer gaming” and have recently released a stylish new range of speakers, including a new set in the Neso 04 range, inspired by raindrops."